If there is one thing the #ENDSARS protest represents, it is that Nigeria has gone full circle and implosion is around the corner except urgent steps are taken to stem the drift into total anarchy.
Evidence abounds that Nigeria has already turned the corner. The ongoing #ENDSARS protest, which has continued in the last two weeks irrespective of efforts by the government to bring it to an end, is telling.
How did we get here in the first place?
Why many believes that the current protests is an agitation by Nigerian youths against police brutality and criminality, we believe the #ENSARS protest is actually a metaphor for all the ills in the country.
The grand corruption in the confines of government, the wasted opportunities, the calumnious compromise the crass impunity, the lawlessness, banditry, complacency and insensitivity and insensate attitudes of those in leadership position, the cronyism, bigotry that has come the define government.
This time around, the government should know that this is not a joke. It is not just going to go away. Those that have contributed one way on the other to the situation should know that this is not a joke. This is unlike previous agitations, it is not going to be just a flash in the pan, the genie is out of the battle, the most vibrant and vocal strata of the population have woken up.
It is telling when security personnel stand back and do nothing when public properties are being vandalized and looted or join the protesters to loot food stuff in Covid-19 warehouse it represents total disorder and obliteration of order and enthronement of anarchy. It is the unmitigated unleashing of disorder and dishevelment where everybody does as they please. Is anarchy here? If the image around the country is anything to go by, certainly anarchy is here with us except government puts on its thinking cap and discard old and worn out solutions that are not going to work this time around.
Two weeks into the #EndSARS protests against police brutality began, president Muhammadu Buhari finally gave a national address, which many had hoped would assuage the bitterness and anger in the land.
However what ought to have been an opportunity to appease the protesters and condole with grieving parents was used to rub-it-in, spit on the graves of the dead and issue insipid treats to the protesters.
Notably the obviously pre-recorded speech made no reference to the troubling killings of unarmed and peaceful protesters at Lekki toll gate in Lagos on Oct. 20. Nigerian soldiers had fired into a crowd of protesters who had remained at the toll gate following a hastily announced curfew. The shootings resulted in several injuries and left several dead. His refusal to admit the Lekki killings is evidently the decision of government to maintain its denial. Overwhelming video evidence however indicts the government and the Nigerian Army as culpable.
While avoiding the crux of the protest and anger in the land he issued a veiled threat to the protesters:
“In the circumstances, I would like to appeal to protesters to note and take advantage of the various well-thought-out initiatives of this administration designed to make their lives better and more meaningful, and resist the temptation of being used by some subversive elements to cause chaos with the aim of truncating our nascent democracy,” Buhari said.
“For you to do otherwise will amount to undermining national security and the law and order situation. Under no circumstances will this be tolerated,” he added.
The speech fell short of expectation offering no hope or resolution to the crisis.
In a moment of national crisis a leader leads. This is the moment!
It is not enough to issue threats and make promises that no one can pin-down. Government must realize that what Nigerians want to see are concrete actions that shows that their demands are being taking seriously.
Four years ago, Buhari sat pretty on the goodwill of the people. He was elected president. Four years after, the goodwill waned, yet he prevailed at the polls. That goodwill is now slipping badly into the abyss because Mr President is sleeping at the wheel. Wake up, Buhari before the nation slips into total anarchy.
